Uninstalling and Installing Anaconda

After anaconda crashed for the second time, I understood why people so highly recommend vscode and pycharm as practical ides for python. But I still quite like the idea of using the browser as an ide. Compared to notebook, I prefer jupyter, so I’ve decided to redo the whole installation process here.

Uninstalling anaconda

Open anaconda prompt , download and run the uninstall command.

Its purpose is to clean up Anaconda’s config files and environment settings.

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conda install anaconda-clean
anaconda-clean --yes

Next, open the folder where you previously installed anaconda and run the uninstaller Uninstall-Anaconda3.exe. For example, mine is at D:\anaconda\anaconda.

Installation

Download one from the official site and install it all the way through.

After installing, add path in the computer’s advanced environment settings: the first one is your own install path.

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D:\anaconda\anaconda
D:\anaconda\anaconda\Scripts
D:\anaconda\anaconda\Library\bin

Jupyter shortcuts and working directory

To make it easier to launch, first create a shortcut pointing to jupyter.

Type where jupyter-lab in anaconda prompt to find the location. Then search online for a matching .ico icon. I recommend downloading from this site.

Enter the following command in anaconda prompt to create the settings:

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jupyter notebook --generate-config

Next, find the generated config file C:\Users\<your username>\.jupyter\jupyter_notebook_config.py.

Search for notebook_dir inside it and change it to the directory you want: c.ServerApp.notebook_dir = 'D:\PyTorch_practice'.

Pytorch environment setup

For deep learning, you need to first download cuda, then set up an environment where pytorch can run.

See CUDA download. The key point is to match the corresponding cuda version with the pytorch version when downloading. For example, I downloaded cuda 12.4, but since the latest pytorch hadn’t adapted to cuda 12.4 yet, I chose to download a pytorch environment suited for cuda 12.1.

Next, open anaconda prompt to set up the environment.

Although the latest python is 3.13, the most compatible version is 3.11. Now let’s create the jupyter environment:

Specify the python version and manage environments uniformly on the D drive.

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conda config --remove pinned_packages python

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conda create -p D:\anaconda_envs\MLGPU python=3.11 -y

Switch to the corresponding environment and install pytorch-related packages:

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conda activate MLGPU

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conda install pytorch torchvision torchaudio pytorch-cuda=12.1 -c pytorch -c nvidia -y

Some python packages I commonly use:

• Install in batches, otherwise it’s easy to hit conflicts and freezes. (The symptom is that in Task Manager, python’s disk usage stays at 0 for a long time but the download doesn’t finish.)
• In the future, also be careful to reduce mixing pip and conda. Mixing itself doesn’t hurt, but when there are many packages it can crash the environment.
• When downloading python, you can reasonably turn off security software like Huorong, as these programs slow disk write speed.

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conda install -y scikit-learn statsmodels networkx igraph -c conda-forge --verbose

conda install -y matplotlib seaborn plotly -c conda-forge --verbose

conda install -y openpyxl xlrd xlwt python-dateutil  -c conda-forge --verbose

conda install -y tqdm -c conda-forge --verbose

pip install aquarel

pip install jieba

Register the jupyterlab kernel

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conda install -y jupyterlab -c conda-forge

jupyter lab

pip install ipykernel

python -m ipykernel install --user --name=MLGPU --display-name "Python (MLGPU)"

Jupyter plugins and appearance

Chinese language pack download (needs to run in the base environment)

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pip install jupyterlab-language-pack-zh-CN

Plugins I personally recommend:

• variableInspector: you can click to view the data attributes of the current code.
• execute-time: view the runtime record of the current code.
• upyterlab-lsp: code auto-completion.

Theme plugins I quite like:

Of course, dark mode is a must.

jupyterlab_stellars_sublime_theme

jupyterlab_stellars_sublime_theme

jupyterlab_ariakedark_theme